LisaCC

For people who don't like the tastes of Electrolyte drinks, I highly recommend Hydrolyte Iceblocks! The Orange is still disgusting but the Purple Berry one just tastes like a berry ice block. Just don't let it melt, then you start getting the "sweaty" taste. You can get them in boxes from any pharmacy, and if you need them ASAP the big pharmacies will generally already have a few boxes frozen out the back :) I always have a supply of these just in case in my freezer. A lot of illnesses can also make you dehydrated and just one of these seems to do wonders.

My boy always needs Elizabethan collars but never because of stitches. He constantly licks his arm where they shaved it for a cannula.

The one thing that stuck out to me here, is the hair problem, As mudlark said, Labs shed like crazy! I haven't seen my boy (back in my home town) for almost 2 months and I'm still finding his hair in places! But I don't agree with needing to be home full time with a puppy, for months on end. Plenty of people work and have perfectly behaved dogs.

Snout Girl I'm so sorry I hope Sally gets better very soon. I was quite ill over this summer with heat stroke, when I was at the hospital I was told I was right on the edge of having water poisoning as well. I thought I had been doing the right things, as because I had to work outside in the heat, I was completely covered up, sunscreen, hat, and drinking LOTS of water, which was almost my downfall. After that I was told to always have electrolyte drinks (like hydrolyte) when working outside in that heat instead of water.

If I can manage it I go down to the local butcher and get Sam a big cow leg bone (left completely uncut) and he will work on that all day until he gets to the marrow. Quite often I can't drive when I'm sick but I can normally get someone to pick one up for me. If I can manage it he will get a game of fetch in the back yard too.

I have so much respect for breeders like you. I hope your bitch is doing well now, poor girl. What an amazing amount of puppies! I didn't realise robes had so many. The first thing people ask me when they know I'm waiting for a pup is "How much will it cost" When I tell them the approximate price I get the same reaction. "If you want a working type dog why don't you go to so and so down the road and get one of his Border/Kelpie/ACD's for a carton of beer".

Clever boy

My condolences Perse, He was such a beautiful boy, I'm glad he enjoyed his long life. RIP Hamlet

Surely there has to be a little more than health and temperament if they are giving out prizes. What if 10 dogs are all physically fit, healthy and happy dogs, who wins? I'm not against it... I just don't get it.

I don't want to write it all down here as I just put it in the Labrador thread, but today Sam (11) has been recommended to stop his vaccinations completely by our trusted vet due to old medical issues coming back. He said the risks are too high with his age this time in regards to his immune system.

Thanks everyone, much appreciated. I'll look into everything as soon as I get a working laptop again!

Thats pretty awesome! Dog fur wool has a name too Chiengora! But I remember reading that it keeps in a LOT more heat than sheep's wool and even in a Canadian winter you can overheat if its pure!

Yes Tassie and Ruby star it is the Mary Ellen Barry one. Thanks for your input RubyStar, I am quite serious about doing agility, I loved training my lab, but being young at the time I was never allowed to do obedience trials. I still teach him little tricks when I'm back home. I think agility would be great for the Aussie and I, I've already talked to the breeder about this too and she was very encouraging. I'm not even sure if there are trainers around here that do private classes, and if there are they would probably charge a small fortune. So yes something I can learn from and do at home is what I'm after until I feel the pup is old enough and ready to go to the clubs agility classes. I will probably still go to the clubs obedience classes. Although I plan on not doing any puppy pre-schools as they are all terrible around here, basically just a play group with a few sits thrown in. I have been looking into shaping too :) I have done clicker training before but not with dogs! Wallabies and Tigers probably think a bit differently to dogs :)

Huski: That would be my first choice! Unfortunately I only have access to one club in my area and it does not do foundation classes. The club has told me you do basic obedience until you reach a certain level/age and then you are allowed to go to Agility classes. I have a friend that started this and they put her wolfhound x pup straight onto obstacles, she didn't take him back after that. She said most the agility people do their basics from home I am planning to go out to the club soon and meet some people, perhaps find an agility person that could give me some good tips to start up with. Kavik: I have heard good things about that DVD Is is suitable at all for pups under jumping age?

While waiting for my Aussie pup to hurry up and come along I've been reading lots of threads and watching lots of videos and I'm pretty much set on wanting to do agility! It looks like so much fun and just plain amazing. I have noticed that everyone wishes they knew more when they first started. Obviously a lot of this comes from experience but I'm wondering the best resource to have as a complete newbie. I've been looking at the Clean Run Foundation Fundamentals DVD set and wondering if anyone can tell me if it's worth the money or is there something better? So far I only have Control Unleashed: The Puppy Program, that was recommended by DOLers :) The last time I had a puppy was 11 years ago, and we did obedience but never to competition level. I would be interested in doing obedience with this new pup too. I'm asking now because I want to do the right thing from the get go.

Oh he is gorgeous!

I'll tie Sam up outside the corner store when I duck into the butchers to grab him a bone. The front is all glass and we can still see each other the whole time. He generally gets a free bit of chicken or something too. But its a quiet little corner store in a good area. I would never leave him out the front of a big woolies etc. My partner will tie up his dog outside of dog friendly cafes while he orders a drink. Plenty of people do it and no one seems to have a problem, people leave the dogs alone while they lay under the tables. In his home town of about 400 people, dogs are welcome at the pub too.

Happy Valentines day everyone and an extra special one for Misteri and Sujo! Misteri- I'm 190 pages into book one and it's great so far. Jules- have you heard of the TV show 'A Game of thrones'? Its the book series that it's based on.

No news, but it hasn't been long, I bought the entire series of A Song of Ice and Fire the other day, lots of good distraction in reading. Hope you're enjoying puppyhood :)

Jules she is so gorgeous! How amazing that your breeder 1: bought her to your house and 2: bought her all the purple matching things :) Misteri, I've never met a Toller before, I might have to find some trials or shows to go have a sneaky look at them. The past week I have been super busy with trails and setting up new experiments that I have been nice and distracted. Until tonight when I came across a facebook page full of Aussie puppies!!! Such a tough life.

Sam's zoomie track is always different, he does have a very worn in morning stroll track that he has taken around the garden every morning for the last 11 years. He also does 360s but while being stiff as a board, pivoting in the middle, imagine a spinning bottle but a labrador.

Oh Jules she is gorgeous! With a personalised pillow toy she is already spoilt!

PUPPY DAY FOR JULES!

Just wondering but can Bobtailed boxer puppies be verified some how? I know with Australian Shepherds a lot of breeders advertise that their NBT pups will come with a verification certificate. The breeder I will hopefully be getting mine off does this as well, she mentioned vets do it. I have also heard of DNA tests for the NBT gene, surely if DNA tests can prove that the dog isn't docked than it wouldn't be subjected to this rule?